Rally

Sunday 4 SEPTEMBER : TELFORD HAMFEST
Enginuity Technology Centre, Coalbrookdale, Telford TF8 7DU. Doors open at 10am. More information from Martyn, G3UKV on 01952 255 416. www.telfordhamfest.co.uk.

A list of rallies can be found at http://rsgb.org/main/news/rallies/

If going any distance it is worth contacting the organiser to check details.

End of main Es season?

It is now early September, which the UK Met Office calls the start of autumn. Nights are starting  to draw in and the days are shorter. With another day with no signs here of Es on 6m and 10m, I think we are definitely at the end of the Es season in the Northern Hemisphere. Yes there will still be some Es but nothing like the scale in the summer. Today, only UK spots on 10m WSPR and 6m JT65. Let us hope the F2 this autumn is not too bad on 10m. I think tomorrow I shall switch to 10m JT65.

JT65 - early success on 6m

Although there is no Es evident here yet, several UK stations have spotted me, and been spotted' on 6m JT65. Best DX spot is G1IDZ (182km).

UPDATE 0938z: On 10m WSPR nothing since M0DMC (15km) who was consistently spotting me until early this morning. I have checked that the 10m WSPR and 6m JT65 are synced to internet time.

Sunspots and 10m - Thursday Sept 1st 2016

It is hard to believe it is already September! Solar flux is 95 and the sunspot number 91 which is much higher than we have seen lately. K=4. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

QST - thank you Rupert

Rupert G4XRV very kindly sent me a copy of September QST. Rupert reads my blog from time to time and saw that I had not seen the magazine in which my recent article appeared. This was very kind and much appreciated. Thank you Rupert.

Counting Sheep? - NOT amateur radio

This was one of my grandsons at our local farm shop and cafe. I wonder if he was counting sheep trying to get to sleep? He is eight, nearly nine.

Fun at the fair - NOT amateur radio

On Monday we went to the Fenland Country Fair.

Our grandchildren (5 and 8 years old) went on the helter-skelter twice. For the younger one, it was her first time.

They go home tomorrow.

Operating today

I decided to go on 10m WSPR (500mW) and 6m JT65 (1W ERP) today. 10m has been very quiet here but I had a number of UK spots of my QRP JT65 signal on 6m.  My best report on 6m JT65 was from G0VUH (157km). So far, I have seen no evidence of Es here yet on either band.

Sunspots and 10m - Wednesday August 31st 2016

Solar flux is 99 and the sunspot number 64 today. K=2. The forecast for 10m F2 propagation remains "poor".

No Internet

Yesterday, we had no internet, so no posts were possible. I am very sorry. It is back today, so I hope to post more later, if the internet carries on working!